I Am Right Here
by CareLockwood
Summary: Caroline takes care of Tyler after he gets his own body back, extended from "Growing Pains"


Caroline had complete faith in Bonnie's magical abilities, she had seen how far she had come from the girl who used to float feathers and have séances to contact dead relatives to now being able to do desiccation spells and body swap spells. Caroline knew that Bonnie was incredibly powerful now, but none of this put her mind at ease because the person she was currently performing her magical witchy woo charms on was the love of her life. It didn't help at all that Bonnie protested at Klaus's request to put him back in his own body. If Bonnie didn't think that she was strong enough to perform the task, how could Caroline have the faith that she could do what needed to be done, without something going wrong. After all, these things didn't have the greatest track record of success; something always seemed to go horribly awry with any of their plans. But Klaus hadn't given them any choice, he was killing Tyler, so Bonnie would do what she had to do. But Caroline was nervous. She could feel her stomach rising up through her chest, and her hands were starting to quiver. Horrible images began to run through her mind about all the ways that this could end up hurting, or even worse, killing Tyler. She had just gone through the pain of losing him, to find out he was alive, and now she might have to go through it all over again. That was something she just couldn't take.

_ It's gonna be ok, he's gonna be fine, _she started to repeat over and over in her mind. She was an eternal optimist, and she was thankful for that at this moment. She could find the silver lining of any rain cloud, and all she had to do was keep telling herself that nothing would happen to him, and it would all be over soon. _It's gonna be ok, he's gonna be fine. _

Bonnie held Tyler's head while muttering some charm using words Caroline could barely make out, much less understand. And those few moments while Bonnie worked her spell seemed like an eternity to Caroline. She kept searching Tyler's face for some sign that he was himself again. Finally, Caroline got what she was wishing for. Tyler opened his eyes, and the moment he saw her, those big brown eyes of his lit up the whole room. He said her name, and it was the most beautiful sound that Caroline had ever heard. She couldn't contain her joy, it was written all over her face, especially in the enchanting smile that graced her face. It had worked; all of her worrying and panic had been for nothing. He was back where he should be, and it was all gonna be ok.

Just as Caroline was starting to breathe easy again, Tyler tried to get up to go to her, but he collapsed. He was weak and disoriented from the spell. He fell to the ground, and Caroline rushed over to him. When she arrived at his side, he was not conscious. Caroline had never witnessed the body swap spell before, but it clearly took a lot of energy not only from Bonnie but from Tyler as well. Caroline heard Bonnie's cries, and she became concerned again, this time not only for Tyler but for Bonnie as well. She was weeping, and screaming something about her Grams. Bonnie then fell to the ground and started to sob. Caroline wanted to go to her, but Jeremy scooped Bonnie up in his arms and carried her away. Caroline was not sure what exactly had happened, but she knew it wasn't good. She also knew Jeremy would do all he could to take care of her, and make sure she was ok, and Caroline needed to do the same for Tyler, who was still unconscious. So she followed Jeremy's lead, and grabbed Tyler and carried him to her car just outside. This was one time that Caroline was thankful she was a vampire, because she was able to get Tyler to the car with relative ease.

By the time they arrived at the Lockwood Mansion, Tyler was starting to come to. He still wasn't able to walk on his own, so Caroline flung his arm over her shoulder, and helped him up to his room. Caroline helped him get into bed. She removed his shoes and socks, and unbuttoned his pants, and removed those as well. She pulled him up towards the top of the bed, and fluffed a pillow for him before placing it gently beneath his head, and then covered him with the blankets. She got up and walked over to the other side of the bed, and removed her shoes, and crawled into bed next to him. She lifted his arm over her body, so that she could get closer to him. She lay on his chest, and wrapped her arms around his body, never wanting to let go. The thought of going home never even crossed her mind; she was never leaving his side again. Cuddled up next to Tyler, she quickly drifted off to sleep, safe in her lover's arms.

When Caroline awoke the next morning, it took her a moment to remember where she was. Once the memory of the previous evening became clear in her mind, she bolted upright and almost screamed Tyler's name. Tyler had been downstairs making them some blueberry muffins, he was not much for cooking, but the directions were right there on the box, how hard could it be? He wanted to bring Caroline breakfast in bed as a thank you for taking such good care of him the night before, but the moment he heard Caroline's scream and the panic in her voice he darted back upstairs to his room as quickly as he could. When he arrived, he saw that Caroline was already dressed and ready to head out and lead a search party for him. Caroline spotted him as soon as he came into the room and she rushed him, wrapping her arms tightly around him, and vowing to never let him go, never let him out of her sight again.

Tyler returned her embrace, and they stood there rocking back and forth just holding each other. When he felt it was safe, Tyler tried to back away to look at her, but she was holding him too tightly. He brought his hand up to stroke her golden locks, and began whispering to her, "Hey, its ok. I am right here. I am ok" as he cradled her head and let it rest on his shoulder.

Caroline's breathing started to increase, and tears came flowing from her eyes. "I was so scared that something happened again." Her sobs began to increase, "I lost you once, I can't go through that again."

"Shhhhh, it's ok." Tyler said as he pulled her closer to him, creating an airtight seal between their bodies. "You are not gonna lose me, I am not going anywhere."

Caroline was making a vast array of different noises, none of which were understandable. Finally, she loosened her grip on him, and he was able to pull back to look at her, but she was looking down, afraid to make eye contact with him. Tyler cradled her face in both of his hands, forcing her to look at him, "Caroline, look at me." She slowly looked up and made eye contact with him. "Look, see? I am right here, and I'm not going anywhere- ever again." Caroline shook her head accepting what he was telling her. He leaned forward and planted a soft kiss upon her forehead, and then he heard the timer in the kitchen beeping incessantly. "Oh shit, the muffins!"

"Muffins?" Caroline questioned, her sadness dropping away, being replaced with confusion.

"Yeah, I was making muffins, gonna bring you breakfast in bed." Tyler explained quickly, when he looked at Caroline a small grin started to form on her face. "Stay here, I will be back in just a minute with breakfast. Get back in bed!" he commanded.

After they ate breakfast, they both laid in bed, taking in the comfort of simply being able to hold each other. Caroline lay on Tyler's chest once again, this time rubbing her fingers up and down his bare chest playfully with one hand, the other was intertwined with Tyler's. Tyler lay there stroking her hair, feeling the softness of her locks, and breathing in the scent of her lavender shampoo. He took deep breaths, and every few minutes would place a gentle kiss on the top of her head. They were both so content, neither of them said a word for almost an hour.

Finally, Caroline was the one to break the silence, "You're sure you are ok?" Caroline asked, as she broke away, and sat up to look him in the eyes.

Tyler readjusted on the bed, and returned Caroline's look, "Yes." He said softly, as he nodded. "I am fine, Caroline, really." He reassured her.

"So you aren't in any pain, and everything feels fine?" Caroline questioned again, "Because last night you were-" She trailed off.

"No, I feel great, Care." Tyler began to explain, "Last night I was just screwed up by that spell, but when I woke up this morning, I felt fine. No pain, or whatever it was that I was feeling last night. I am good, I promise."

"Good." Caroline said, then she paused a moment and with no warning at all she started slapping his arm, and chest, and anything she could make contact with, then she grabbed the pillow from behind him and smacked him with it as hard as she could.

"Whoa!" Tyler exclaimed, as he got out of bed, and out of the line of fire. "What was all that for?" He asked.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT TO ME AGAIN!" Caroline yelled at him. She was trying to be serious, but she let out a slight giggle at the end of her outburst, which told Tyler it was safe to approach her again.

He walked over to her, and sat next to her on the side of the bed, he wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her close. "I'm sorry," he said. "I promise that I'll never let Klaus use my body as an escape hatch to save _everyone's_ life from our psycho history teacher without talking to you first-" he said with a playful tone, "Ever... Again."

Caroline just chuckled, and gave him a loving shove, and said, "You better not!"


End file.
